Pencak
Silat is not just a combat sport or martial art, but needs to be
described as a noble Indonesian martial art. A martial art that
distinguishes itself, among others, for a large variety of appearances.
The numerous islands of the Indonesian Archipelago account for that.
Every island has its own martial art form, which by the way, do
not all present themselves under the name of Pencak Silat. It is
because of this diversity that it is impossible to give one single
meaning of Pencak Silat. Namely, every Aliran (style) has its own
history and philosophy. This does not make it clearer for the outsider
ofcourse. Therefore, only a part of Bp. Tulalessy's vision and knowledge
is published on this site. Please note, this is the meaning of Pencak
Silat as it applies to the Aliran Cimande.

The
name Pencak Silat consists of two words, words with each their own
meaning. Pencak stands for the seni budaya, the bunga (kembang)
or the flower in English. This is the cultural part of Pencak Silat,
which can be described as a combat dance formed from the silat.
Silat stands for the bela diri, the selfdefence of Pencak Silat.
The silat also knows two manifestations. First the olah raga, the
competitive element at which the practitioners fight eachother with
techniques from the true Silat. The true Silat is namely something
from the practitioner himself and may not be misused. With its many
animal styles and mysticism, Silat is just as effective as fatal.
This means that in competition, animal styles only appear in the
Pasangs (positions). The true content of the techniques may not
be revealed.

As
said before, Pencak Silat is a noble martial art that is practiced
in the entire Indonesian Archipelago and in the meantime also far
beyond. However, most of the Alirans can be found in Jawa Barat
(West-Java). Both the old original Pencak Silat Alirans (Aliran
Tua) and the younger Alirans (Aliran Muda), Alirans that are often
times derived from the old Alirans. For your information you will
find a description of the styles that originate from Jawa Barat
below. To prevent any misunderstandings we emphasize once more that
this overview does not contain all Alirans.

Aliran²
kolot (tua)

Aliran²
Dibawah aliran kolot (tua) Aliran Muda

Cimande
Tarikolot

Serak

Cikalong

Putra²
Pajajaran / Daya Putra Pajajaran

Sahbandar

Mande
Muda / Pusaka Muda

Cikaret

Panglipur

Kari

Lang
Lang Buana

Madi

Gajah
Putih

Cipecut

Elang
Jaya

Pamacan

Darma
Saputra

Pamonyet

These
Alirans are practiced in many places in Jawa Barat. However, "important"
places where these styles occur are Cianjur, Bogor, Sukabumi, Garut,
Tasik Malaya and Majalaya Sumedang. Inside our Paguron (school)
half a dozen Alirans from Jawa Barat are practiced. Namely Cimande
Tarikolot, Cikalong, Mande Muda, Serak, Pamacanan and Pamonyetan.
More will be said about the three oldest styles but ofcourse not
all information will be published on the internet.

Aliran
Cimande Tarikolot
The founder of this Aliran is Almarhum Embah or Eyang Kahir. Eyang
Kahir is, just like almost all founders of the several Alirans in
Indonesia, a good moslim. Pencak Silat is one with the moslim faith.
Therefore a practitioner of Pencak Silat will spend much time in
the Pesantren or the Padepokan to practice praying, meditating,
training and fasting in order to attain greater wisdom, the ultimate
goal.
In Indonesia the Padepokan of the Aliran Cimande Tarikolot is regarded
as a holy place. The founder Eyang Kahir's sons are namely burried
in de Padepokan. Eyang Kahir himself is burried outside the Padepokan,
under a beringin tree. This holy place is visited every year in
the month of Mulud by many practitioners of the Aliran Cimande Tarikolot.
Here, they train, pray and meditate. Besides, much time is spent
on Kecer Mande (or Dikecer) and Dipijet di balur with minyak cimande
(Miyak Balur). This ofcourse according to the adat (tradition) of
Cimande Tarikolot.

Almarhum
Eyang Haji Aji, Maha Guru/Pendekar from the Aliran Cimande Tarikolot,
is the umpteenth generation of the Aliran Cimande Tarikolot in Bogor
Pedaleman, where the Padepokan is established. Every Guru (teacher)
taught at the Padepokan has to take an oath there. An oath that
involves many heavy commitments. Commitments that ofcourse all have
to be met. At the Padepokan the 28 basicjurus of the Aliran Cimande
Tarikolot (Jurus Kelid up and to Jurus Pekalah Gede) and the Cimande
Tarikolot Jurus Rikesan is taught first, after that the Iegel Cimande
Tarikolot. However, not all of the present Gurus know the jurus
Cimande Tarikolot or teach it in the correct order.
Nowadays, the Aliran Cimande Tarikolot is much more open than before.
In the past, teaching this style required permission. Nowadays almost
everyone who travels to Indonesia can learn the Aliran Cimande Tarikolot
from the Perguruan and return arrogantly to his/her homeland.
On this Bp. Tulalessy comments: "With all due respect, I do
not judge nor criticize anyone, although I feel that whenever one
practices Pencak Silat, regardless of the Aliran, one needs to do
this with respect, humbleness, modesty and love because that is
the true meaning of Pencak Silat".

Aliran
Cikalong
The story behind the Aliran Cikalong is almost equal to that of
the Aliran Cimande Tarikolot. The founder of this Aliran is Embah
or Eyang RD. Haji Ibrahim. The uniqueness of
this Aliran, of which the Padepokan is established in Cianjur, is
that it could only be practised by government officials and dignitaries.
This territory was off limit for the "common man". Just
like with other Alirans these conditions no longer apply.

Aliran
Sahbandar (Sabandar)
Pencak Silat alirans are often times named after the founder of
the style. As is the Aliran Sahbandar, an Aliran originally from
Sumatra. The founder of this style is Embah or Eyang Moh. Kosim Katelahna Mama Sahbandar.
Undoubtedly you noticed from an earlier overview that the Aliran
Sahbandar is also practiced on Jawa Barat. This is not a contradiction,
but has an explanatory history. A history which involves both the
founder of the Aliran Cimande Tarikolot and the founder of the Aliran
Sahbandar. However, this is again part of the knowledge that Bp.
Tulalessy does not find suitable for publication but saves for himself
and for his students that enjoy his confidence.

General
information
As mentioned before, within the Paguron Mande Muda / Mawar Suci
more Alirans are practiced. Guru Besar Bp. Tulalessy teaches his
students six Alirans, namely Cimande Tarikolot, Cikalong, Mande
Muda, Serak, Pamacanan and Pamonyetan. These Alirans are practiced
weekly at the training in a variable programme. Here needs to be
said that given the number of techniques, every single training
is different. The emphasis constantly lies on a different aspect
from these six Alirans. Bp. Tulalessy greatly values the quality
within his Paguron. This ofcourse in order to maintain the achievements,
a.o. World and European titels and many Dutch titels but maybe more
importantly to maintain the good name of the Paguron in future.
Students are required to be honest, respectful, loyal and modest,
have perseverance, faith and discipline. If you are interested and
you think you have all of these qualities, then you are most welcome
to become a member of the Paguron Mande Muda / Mawar Suci.